Hesitate
by Toshiku Yumari
Summary: The world seemed peaceful, but that comes to an end when rumors about the Darkness rise and odd crimes are commited . Monsters appear in the real world without reason, people disappear, change for the worse. No one knows what's going on. But Rei Saemura seems to be in the middle of it. She soon sees that if she's going to stop what's going on, she's going to need the Signers' help.
1. Prologue

Yay! *does extremely happy dance* I can finally post the prologue. This is my second Yugioh FanFic, and I've got one more in line to start. I got some pretty good feedback on my GX one, so hopefully you guys will like my 5Ds Fic. I've got the plot pretty much sorted out, and everything is set up, so we'll see how quickly I can keep getting chapters out for all of my stories. But enough of my babbling, enjoy the prologue, and please review! XD (favorite face)

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Prologue:

"Yusei!" I whisper-shouted back at the black-haired boy tiptoeing down the tunnel behind me. I could've sworn that I'd heard something that wasn't the two of us, and now that we were this far out we didn't have the alibi of taking a walk and losing track of how far we'd gone, or which way we'd gone altogether. Even if we could've used that, no one would've believed that we just so happened to be walking in the direction of the only connection the Satellite had with New Domino City:

"What? This time I _know _I didn't do anything—" He whispered as quietly as he could despite his irritation. I turned back to the twelve year old boy behind me (Only a _few_ months older than me, for the record) and cupped a hand over his mouth, which didn't help his aggravation towards me, but when did he ever _not_ find something to twitch his eyebrow at me about?

I could hear him mumble something from behind my hand, but I ignored him since I couldn't decipher his grumbles. I sent a shush back at him, and removed my hand when I could tell that he'd gotten the message. Scooting up to me to gaze in the direction I was staring in, Yusei and I both waited in silence (Even though Yusei had no clue what we were waiting for since he hadn't heard what I had).

Glancing over at him and seeing the confused look in his eyes, I raised an arm and pointed down the tunnel in front of us. "Don't you hear it, Sei? It's…an engine." My hand started to tremble at my own words and I quickly put my arm back down before Yusei had time to notice. I'd tried escaping the Satellite alone before, and I didn't want Yusei to have to feel the pain that I had that first time; I could almost sense the pain surging through me all over again. They might even think that Yusei had been with me that night, and had been hiding somewhere when they showed up. That would mean that they'd dish out a lot more on him than they had on me.

I couldn't stand the thought of Yusei being hurt. I never wanted to see pain in those pretty blue eyes, except for when he pissed me off and I tugged on his ear and made all the adults laugh. And sure, I punched him a couple of times, but I was always careful with him (Well, as careful as you can be when you're punching somebody in the gut). He was used to me beating up on him, though, and the guards wouldn't be as gentle as I was, if I could be considered gentle.

I gulped when I saw a streak of fear dash across his eyes, but it quickly faded, almost as if he were trying to be tough. He'd heard it, and he knew as well as I did that it was getting louder, closer, and that it would only be a matter of time before we would be able to see the bright headlights. If we went back right then, we wouldn't get caught. But I was stubborn; I knew there had to be a way for us to avoid that one guard. If they actually knew we were trying to escape, they would've sent more than one.

Looking everywhere but at the light that had just appeared at the far end of the tunnel, and was drawing ever closer, I attempted to find some way for us to hide. I wasn't going to let them hurt Yusei; if they touched him, I wouldn't think twice about picking up a rock from the dirt under our feet and repeatedly smashing their head with it until they got back on their Duel Runner (Most of the guards had one, and I couldn't help but wonder to myself about how expensive all of the equipment must've been) and got the hell away from us. Or until they were so weak they couldn't even try to run away.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Yusei unexpectedly grabbed my arm and dragged me forward, breaking into a sprint before I had any clue of what he was doing. I could see the light drawing closer and closer, and I thought that I could almost feels its warmth on my skin. But the heat that I imagined and the remembrance of bruises and gashes left me just as suddenly as they'd come, and the dark surrounded both of us again, only brightened for a split second as the Runner raced past us, leaving the both of us in silence again, except for our heavy breathing.

Yusei's hand was still gripping mine so hard it hurt, and even though my hand was crying for me to get him away, I felt a lot better knowing that he was with me, and his mind was clearer than mine and running much faster. But that wasn't any different than usual. Yusei's brilliant mind was just as impressive as the mechanics he could repair and all of the physics that he knew. I was happy to have him with me.

The warmth that his hand gave off left me rapidly. I could've sworn that I could see his cheeks glowing pink he was blushing so hard from realizing that he'd been holding my hand. I stared at the dark silhouette that he made for a minute before shrugging off the incident and returning my attention to seeing if there would end up being someone else following that guy. But I didn't hear anything except for the drone of this engine fading away, and Yusei's light breathing behind me.

After the drone had faded away almost completely, I grabbed Yusei's sleeve and yanked him forward back into the tunnel. I didn't know how much farther we'd have to go to get to the sewer that would lead us to New Domino City, but I knew that it had to be close. That must've been what that man had been watching over; many people in the Satellite had tried getting out through there, or at least talked about it. I supposed that they thought someone might actually try it. Hopefully they didn't have the wall of watchmen that all of the adults who talked endlessly about it had spoken of.

We walked in silence for a while, hearing only the tapping of our feet and the rapid-fire beat of our hearts. Yusei was the first to break the silence, for once. "…Why are you holding my sleeve?" His question almost made me laugh; it sounded so random, so unlike him. I would've laughed had we been somewhere we didn't have to be so quiet.

"…I…like knowing you're here," I replied quietly, turning to glance back at him, trying to keep the blush dusting over my cheeks as hidden as I could keep it. I didn't want him to realize that I had a little crush on him, that would just make all this awkward. He couldn't know. Not ever. "…Thanks for coming with me, SeiSei. I'd be so lost without you." _If that doesn't spell out 'I like you, Yusei. A lot' I don't know what does._

But if he'd thought that, the ravenette with bright gold highlights didn't hint towards it. All he did was let out a small 'Mmhmm', almost as if his voice couldn't conjure up anything more than that. But I didn't mind his sudden silent tone; we both should've been listening for anything else in the tunnels, not talking to each other. I figured that it would be okay if we did talk a bit; I thought that one of us would hear something if anything was coming our way.

That was where we made our first mistake.

The Security guarding New Domino City from the rebels of the Satellite was tight, and there was hardly any way for anyone to get through it. They had some of the best technology, and many of their guards were incredibly skilled in dueling. But I'd thought for the longest time now that I was just as tough as they were, and my deck was much more complex, similar to my strategies and techniques.

I'd gone with Yusei and a few others every now and then to the scrap heaps and junkyards all around the Satellite searching for any kind of card that someone might've thrown away. And, honestly, it was incredible what kind of cards someone could throw away without even noticing that they had. We'd found a small amount of incredibly rare cards, it was almost hard to believe.

But that wasn't going to help, no matter how much I might've thought that it would. And that slowly came to my mind when I heard someone shout out of the darkness, "Hey! Who's there?" I couldn't believe my stupidity; I'd never even thought that some of the Security would be on foot so you didn't hear them.

Light from a flashlight suddenly blinded the both of us, but that was only the beginning of our problems. Yusei's mind reacted faster to the light than I did, and he tried to pull me away into the darkness again, but I refused to budge, and currently had no idea why. My hesitation gave another officer that had snuck around from behind us an opportunity to snatch me up by my collar like some kid would pick a cat up by its scruff.

"You're coming with us," The man that was holding me up slightly in the air said with a gruff voice, the kind of tune that you'd imagine from someone who didn't get paid nearly enough for whatever job they were doing. His grip was reasonably similar to the anger in his voice, and very alike compared to the last guards that had caught me.

The one with the flashlight had walked up to the three of us, and shone the flashlight directly in my face, forgetting all about Yusei for the moment. I hoped with all of my being that he'd understand that I wanted him to get out of here before it was too late, before they realized he was here. The man with the flashlight's face twisted into a scowl as he recognized me; it really hadn't been that long ago that I'd tried to get out of the Satellite the first time. "Rei Saemonsaburou, I didn't expect to see your face around this part of the tunnels for a couple more months…" As he slowly moved the flashlight around the rest of the tunnel I caught a glimpse of his face: It was Officer Trudge, the lone guard that had just barely stopped my attempt to get out of the Satellite once and for all. Anger burned within my chest at the sight of him.

However, that wasn't the only feeling that went through me as he scanned the tunnel. All of my hope for Yusei to do what I wanted for once and get himself out of the area to safety before they noticed him crashed and burned; I could feel it in the very pit of my stomach as it died. The beam of dust-particle-revealing light landed on Yusei, the golden streaks in his raven-black hair sparkled in the dim light, and his cerulean eyes sparkled as they reflected the light. He was standing a few feet away, but he was still far too close for comfort.

Trudge let out an amused little laugh as if the two of us having been caught attempting to escape together was all some kind of joke to him, and his groupie joined in, but was silenced when the other officer mocked the both of us with another series of laughs, "Ha, you brought your boyfriend with you for good luck this time, did you? Hahaha! 'Cause something tells me he's not as lucky as you think he is—"

"Shut up, _Sludge_!" I snapped as loud as I could, but not wanting to shout in case there were any other guards near by that would grab Yusei at Trudge's command or before. I snarled at the Security guard who was still shining a light at my best friend as if he were being interrogated. I didn't like it at all, and I couldn't stop my protectiveness of Yusei from showing through in the strength of my voice and the false bravery that sounded in my tone. "Leave him out of this; I convinced him to come with me, he's got nothing to do with this!" _C'mon, please, Yusei. Get out of here already!_

Officer Trudge snarled at what I'd called him, ignoring the fact that Yusei's presence here was simply hilarious to him. He turned the flashlight from Yusei to me, holding it up under my chin and forcing my head up to look him square in the eyes, he told me with such coldness in his voice that it sent chills over my skin, "You'll pay for that little remark, Rei. Mark my words—"

"Let her go!" Ignoring my mental pleas completely, Yusei found another way to get into even deeper trouble with the Security than he already had by being here with me. He came up from behind the guard that was still holding me up by the collar of my shirt, and jumped up to kick him square in the rib cage with the toe of his shoe, the impact hard enough to make the officer cry out and drop me immediately, the sudden movements making Trudge jump back with surprise. Despite how dire the situation we were currently in was, I couldn't help but admire Yusei for doing what he had, even though I really would've preferred that he got out of here before it was too late to. But when I looked up into his eyes from my current spot on the ground, I couldn't tell him to go back; the answer was bright in his eyes, he didn't even have to say a thing.

He wasn't about to leave me for the world. _Whatever goes through his head sure isn't like other twelve year old boys…_

My mind raced when his eyes told me that, and I hoped that I could think of something that would get him to leave. I leapt to my feet, turning swiftly on one of my toes to kick the officer that had accompanied Trudge in the face, sending him stumbling back, colliding with Trudge and making both of them fall on their backs. I sprung over to Yusei, grabbed his shoulders tightly, and spat everything that I could think of out of my mouth to get him to understand why he had to go, why he had to leave me and get away, "I know we're best friends, but as that friend, I'm begging you to do yourself a favor and _get out_ of here, Yusei! You have a future ahead of you that I know you can find a way to pursue after all of this, but I don't! I've screwed up too many times to have one, but if they catch you tonight, your destiny isn't going to be able to help you!

"I'm begging you, Yusei, do something incredible with your life like I know you will, and get out of here before those oafs get back up! Please!" Tears of fear for Yusei were just beginning to stream down my dirt-covered cheeks when he finally consented to my pleading. I could see pain in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around me unexpectedly, holding me tighter than anyone ever had before.

We pulled apart after only a few seconds and just as we were about to turn away from each other, the blue-eyed boy slipped something into my hand: A card. In the dark I couldn't see what it was, but Yusei whispered with strength and belief in my knowing what I was doing (I had no clue what I was doing over half the time, and this was part of that half), "This'll help you whenever you need it. And I…I'll never forget you, Rei. None of us will." I saw a smile cross his lips before he turned and ran from me, though I could see in the way his feet fell and rose again that he wanted nothing more than to turn around and remain by my side.

I couldn't help but wish that he would. _Just remember the maintenance hatch, Yusei. Don't forget it._

As I turned to face the two now very pissed off guards, a fist reached out of nowhere and snatched my collar again, dragging me through the dark towards a flashlight that was suddenly lit directly in my face. I could see a black eye beginning to develop on the second officer's face, but the dim lighting made it hard to see if anything had damaged Officer Trudge at all. "You're coming with us, Rei. And this time, you've earned yourself a mark."


	2. Chapter 1

**Okay, first off, I know that I haven't posted in this thing in like...almost two years XD (on the bright side, that means that the new work that I might end up adding to this will be that much better than what you wudda gotten before :D) And I apologize that I've been neglecting so many of my works. **

**The reason that I decided to post this now is because I was checking around on my usual sites like I always do, and I saw how many views I'd gotten on this story, and it got me thinking. 'How many people actually liked this story, but just didn't feel like reviewing? I mean, I don't always review stories that I really like, but I'd still be sad if they didn't keep going. So why should I stop?' So, here I am. Continuing this despite the fact that I have a crap ton of other stuff to do.**

**Yes. I'm horrible a prioritizing, but I love to make people happy even if I don't know that I'm doing it. :D**

**And so, without anything further, I'd love for you readers out there to take a look at this here chapter, and please let me know if you guys want me to keep going with this. I will try to no matter what, but I'd really try my hardest to get these chapter out if I knew that whoever's been reading this is liking it so far. **

**Oh, and speaking of not having posted in forever, I wanted to inform you guys that if any of you have read my Yugioh GX oneshot (I called it Meteor Shower or something like that XD), a good number of people were saying that they'd love it if I were to make it into a multi-chapter thing. And, knowing silly little me, I started to plan it out. So, we'll have to see where it ends up :)**

**Nevertheless, please enjoy this chapter!**

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Chapter 1

"Rei! _Come_ _on_! We _need_ to _go_! I don't want to be late for school on the _first day_!" My sister's shrill yelling was enough to finally pull me from my slumber (When was there ever a time that _that_ wasn't?). I groaned loudly as my reply, letting her know that I was getting up, slowly but surely. However, one glance at the clock and that calendar sped me up a bit. Kitty was right. It was the first day for both of us, and she had a reputation to start out good with.

I shot out of bed like it was a cannon, and was about to dash over to my closet when my foot became unexpectedly tangled in the sheets and I fell onto the floor, knocking down my alarm clock (Which was very poor at its job) with a deafening crash in the process of trying to stop my descend to the floor. I wasn't surprised that Kitty didn't come running; she knew how much clumsier I got when I was hurrying.

Everyone in the apartments below us knew that too.

One in particular bugged me about that, though, and that one being would happen to be Mrs. Kobayashi. She'd seen me smack straight into a door once (In my defense, it _had _been open, and it was glass), and had never let me live it down since. Her husband always told her to leave me be, and that they didn't even know how I'd gotten my Criminal Marks. He thought it was because I'd mugged some senior citizen, and figured that if his wife bothered me enough they might be next on my list. But they couldn't have been more wrong. I was glad that she never believed him though.

I launched myself from the floor to the closet door, and riffled violently through it for the uniform that the school had given me the day I'd come—with Kitty accompanying me—to register for senior year (I shouldn't have had to go back, but I promised my parents that I'd get a halfway decent education, and I hadn't finished all of last year because I hadn't been able to…for reasons I hadn't exactly explained to my previous school, and that was why I wasn't going back there). When I found it, I pulled it on over the black sleeveless shirt I'd worn to sleep the night before, forgetting about it completely, but really not caring afterwards. And even though I disliked skirts and anything skirt-like with a strong, loathing passion, I yanked the gray mini-skirt on over the black shorts I'd also worn, and tore out of my room while putting my shoes on, barely missing the door on my way out.

I hopped down the hall on one foot for a moment, at least until I had my shoes on, and glanced around the room for both Kitty—who would have the keys to the junker car that I'd had for the past few days (It was already prepared to crap out on me any day now) and my own backpack. Neither did I find, and she'd been the one worried about us being late.

"Kitty!? Where the heck are you?" I shouted through the apartment, sprinting awkwardly back down the hall to grab my book bag (I remembered that I'd put it in my room by my bedside so I wouldn't forget about it. So much for that. And it didn't help that I couldn't run very well in heels like these, even though there was barely a heel to speak of).

I heard Kitty's reply coming from outside as I came back into the living/entry room with my bag, even though it was obvious that it wasn't her voice. It was the car horn, and boy, did it sound pissed. If she had the nerve, she would've gotten in the driver's seat and floored the accelerator. I half-smiled at her anger; I couldn't help it. She was hilarious whenever I got her mad. She wasn't a tough kid at all.

I stumbled down the hallway in the barely-heeled shoes, thankfully regaining the majority of my balance before actually getting to the twisting stairs at the very end of it. I made a wild grab for the railing as I made my way down them as fast as I could, the mini-skirt swishing back and forth as I ran down them, making me glad that I'd kept my pajama shorts on underneath them. I hated skirts—no way around that—and this was why.

Finding an unexpected surge of agility that came with a promise that my stunt wouldn't end in an embarrassing fall, I ripped down the rest of the stairs, and even leapt from the middle of the staircase to the lobby floor below. I landed with a noisy clash of the clicking heels smacking against the tiles, but I tried to ignore them and continued through the lobby, still hearing Kitty as she pounded away on the car horn. _Careful, Kitty, you're not going to be happy when the vibrations of the horn shatter the whole darn car…_

"Slow down, Miss Saemura. You'll break your back if you pull another stunt like that!" I cast a small greeting smile towards Mrs. Kobayashi. Despite how wary her husband tried to make her of me, she never listened, and always said some kind of 'Hello' to me whenever she saw me in the morning, or any time. Most times our conversations were interrupted by Mr. Kobayashi coming and saying that they had somewhere to be, and pulling her away from me, but I knew that almost every time that was just an excuse. I always heard their door slam shut; Mrs Kobayashi could have a short temper at times.

"See, Rei? I'm not the only one who's astonished by your lack of broken bones…" Haruka mumbled, barely loud enough for me to be able to hear her, which was her plan. She was one of the younger employees here, and she worked as the receptionist person, or whatever she did. She was always behind the counter, and always had something new to say to me. One of her most common phrases was, 'When are you going to get yourself a man, huh?' I liked that one the best, since it was always a joy to come up with new things to say.

I turned to them for a split second with a half smile on my face; it was all I was able to summon on such short notice. "Hi!" I shouted to them with a partial wave, using the other hand to slightly lessen the impact of my face and the glass door (See? I learn!), shoving it open with ease. I turned from them and rushed down the small walkway leading to the sidewalk, yelling back over my shoulder, "See ya!"

Almost forget where the car was, but I was reminded of its location due to Kitty's incessant honking of its horn. "I'm coming, I'm coming—Knock it off, Kitty!" I shouted over the loud sound as I dove into the car, shoving Kitty over into the passenger seat with her backpack in the process. "Everyone in New Domino City—and everywhere else, for that matter—can hear the car—"

"I don't care!" Kitty exclaimed, chucking her backpack onto the floor by her feet, and dragging mine from the floor near the accelerator (We were still in the parking lot, after all, and one little move forward and we'd be hitting the next car) and threw it on top of hers. "You know how I feel about walking into some place late, and it'll be even worse since it's the first day! You said yourself that I have to make sure that I make a good first impression, and I can't do that—another quote by you—if I'm not there!" All the while she was speaking, she was gesturing her hands back and forth, and side to side, and it was kind of distracting me from her points. And the fact that she actually listened to me when I knew she didn't have to, mainly since I just babbled most of the time and wasn't one hundred percent sure of all I was saying.

But she didn't know that.

I stared at her for a second before a huge, evil grin crossed my face. If she wanted to get there, and fast, then she'd be there. Whether I broke a couple of rules or not. "And you don't care how fast over the speed limit I drive?" I questioned her skeptically, shifting into the right gear and readying my hands on the steering wheel, my foot resting gently on the accelerator, waiting for Kitty's reaction until I punched it. _Oh, she's gonna hate me for this…_

"No, I don't—Wait, what are you—" But Kitty didn't get to finish her sentence before I'd gunned it down the street, being careful although my driving techniques would've died if they didn't get the chance to beg to differ. I had to admit, I was driving worse than usual, but I was a bit more tired than normal this morning, and the crappiness of the car kinda limited how fast and well I could successfully drive. Kitty, however, didn't drive with me very much, mainly because she clearly _hated_ the way I drove.

About every third of a block I'd hear, "Slow down! Slow down! Slow down! Slow down!" but I never did actually listen to her. She told me to get her to school no matter what (Or was that all me? Hm.), and I intended to do what she asked. Besides, knowing so or not, she had said she didn't care how fast I went. So, I went 40 miles an hour down that street. I was just lucky there really wasn't anybody around this late in the morning to notice, or be hit.

By the time I got Kitty to school, the fourteen-year old was as pale as a cirrus cloud, and she got out of the car like a zombie. But she was alive (At least I thought she was; I figured her living-undead appearance was just a façade), and there were still a few kids running into the school yet, so I could tell I'd gotten her here just in time. She whispered an anxiety-ridden, 'Thanks for the ride' into the open window before turning and running into the school. I could hear the bell ring as she disappeared inside.

I let out a small sigh and the tight muscles in my back relaxed as I eased from the pedals. Leaning back against the headrest, I closed my eyes and thought aloud, "If I ever have to do that again, I'm going to give myself a stroke…" _Oh, wait. I do have to do that again. _I_ have to get to school now. _My eyes snapped open and I slammed my foot down on instinct, only to realize I didn't even have my seatbelt on, and find my head meeting the roof of the car. Today had been going okay, but now that Kitty was gone, it was all tumbling downhill. Maybe she masked my clumsiness from the world.

_Ah, well. Then this is gonna suck._

I took off down the street, actually going the speed limit now (…Sorta…) since Kitty was already gone. There were more people around now as well, and there was a much larger chance of me actually being ratted on by some guy in a light blue Volkswagen Bug or something (It's not that I had anything against Bugs, it had just happened to me before a couple of times so I was a bit wary of them).

Thankfully for me, it wasn't too far of a drive from Kitty's new school to the high school I would be attending for the next couple of months. It was only a couple of minutes from Point A to Point B, and yet I could tell just by the silence surrounding the school as I stepped out of the car and raced over to it that I was late. I wasn't quite sure how late, yet. It didn't help that I tripped up the steps either.

I ripped through the hallway as I glanced from side to side at all of the doors that I passed, not even thinking to find my locker, mainly because I knew for a fact I was late since all the hallways I went down were like ghost towns. Turning down another empty hallway, the number of my first class just barely caught my eye, and, not even thinking of how awkward it was going to be, I burst into the room. Only to find myself ten minutes late for class.

Everyone turned to stare at the door as I came in, the loud sound of me smacking against the door nearly scaring the teacher to death. Which wouldn't have been as bad as it sounded because then it wouldn't have been this awkward because everyone would be ecstatic due to the fact we wouldn't have class. That would've helped me a heck of a lot, but it didn't happen. She seemed alive and well—and none too pleased with my sudden appearance.

The teacher had thin bark-brown hair that was kept up in a loose bun, her short bangs hanging from it near her ears. She wore her glasses like a librarian, and was continually pushing them back up onto her nose. I could see that her name was written up on the chalk board for any new students: Ms. Kumara. Her dark storm-cloud-grey eyes gave me a hard, irritated stare for being late, and she gestured to the last empty desk. Of course, it was the one spot I hated the most because you could be seen by everyone else in the room. Middle row, front spot.

I tried to avoid the gazes of all who were staring at me as I made my way swiftly over to the desk, feeling so many pairs of eyes on me that I could've reached out and poked one of them and it wouldn't have fazed him. Thankfully, I had a tiny stroke of luck and I didn't make a fool of myself, other than being late and smacking into the door. So far, not an epic fail.

Relieved to hear the final bell, I retrieved my things faster than any of the other students and rushed out of the door, almost smacking straight into someone in the process. I knew I had a few more minutes before Kitty would be expecting me to pick her up, but I wanted out of that place if I died trying to. Apparently a lot of people did, but not nearly as much as I did. That as frickin' impossible.

I trotted down the steps with much more ease than I'd had when going up them, but my klutziness always seemed to go away bit by bit as the day went on, which was a little sad because then I was completely wired with nothing to do at night. Kitty didn't like it when I went out for joy rides at 11 o'clock at night and came back with a grin on my face that told her I'd done something she would think was stupid. 'I didn't do anything that'll haunt me, I'm not that dumb' I told her the same thing every time, and she trusted that I'd watch what I did and judge the best it's-so-stupid-it's-fun thing to do.

According to her, that was one of the things I was best at.

"Hey, girl with the marks! Hold up a second!" Despite the creep meter in my head sounding its alarm like mad, I paused and half-glanced back at the guy that was approaching me faster than the most advanced Duel Runner on the market. His blonde hair was brighter than the sunlight in the sky, and I was tempted to ask the nearest person if they had a spare pair of shades. His eyes were an odd mix of gray and green that reminded me of radioactive sludge that was just beginning to lose its deadly atmosphere.

The strangest smile was on his face as his eyes gazed at me; now was one of those times that I felt very self-conscious about my school uniform (The skirt) and my Criminal Marks, but mainly the uniform. Sure, lots of people gave me weird looks because of the two Criminal Marks, but I was used to _those _glances. This, on the other hand, was completely different from that, and I didn't like how creepy it made his face look. "…What exactly do you want?" The awkward silence had grown too unbearable for me to not say anything.

"Oh! Well," The boy nervously put his hand behind his hair, his fingers unconsciously playing with the fluffy-looking strands. He let out a little laugh before noticing that I wasn't exactly in a friendly mood; I had to go get my sister, I couldn't keep her waiting. Sensing that, he skipping right to the point. "My name's Sachio, and I sat behind you in class today. I heard your name was Rei, and I wanted to tell you that I think you're pretty hot, and if you wanted to go out this Friday night. Hm?" His eyebrows waggled up and down in anticipation for my reply, obviously believing that my response was going to be positive for him.

I stared at him for a minute, surprised as heck that somebody didn't even seem to wonder why I had two Criminal Marks in the first place wanted to go out, and at night too. That seemed pretty stupid to me, but hey, who was I to judge? Beginning to turn from him and continue on my way to my scrap heap of a car, I cast him a shrug of my shoulders and answered blankly, "No, but thanks. I'm busy Friday night—"

"Doing what?" I stopped short and slowly turned to stare at him in disbelief. Was this guy really that dense that he couldn't pick up on a hint that was supposed to be an attempt to let him down easy? I'd met a lot of people who could see through excuses like those and tried to play along with them to corner the person who said it into confessing what they were trying to do by it, but he didn't seem like that type. He was just plain oblivious. Not only that, but he refused to stop following me.

I thought at first that ignoring him might work; he could grow bored of following me when he knew I wouldn't reply and would leave to find someone else to accompany him that night. But when I glanced at where he'd once been, I saw him gazing with that creepy smile right back at me. There was no way in the world that he was going to leave my side. If Atlantis had been found and he was supposed to be its king, he would probably throw a fit until I was taken as his first captive.

Sighing hushed through my nostrils, extreme irritation plaguing my mind, I figured that if I convinced him of my excuse he would merely think to try again another day. I kept my eyes off of him and on the sidewalk before me; tripping and falling flat on my face wouldn't be the cleverest thing to do at this time. "My sister and I have plans with one of our neighbors; they've invited us to dinner in their apartment. I'd bring you with but they don't like strangers coming into their house. It wouldn't be a pretty sight," The second part was a lie, but the first sentence or two were partially true. Mrs. Kobayashi had asked Kitty and I to come to their home for supper, but her husband had clearly thought otherwise and I'd respectfully denied her offer. And, it was the honest truth that he hated it when people he didn't know very well were in his home. Once I'd brought Mrs. Kobayashi something for the cookies she was going to be making and he'd nearly hit me with a baseball bat (I avoided being hit by slipping in the hallway at that precise moment).

"Ah," He made a sound of understanding, and I thought happily for a moment that that meant he believed me and was going to leave me alone for the rest of the day (Only, I realized, to bother me again tomorrow more than ever). But, even though he was quieter now, he didn't walk a different direction. He remained next to me, crushing all hopes of being able to pick Kitty up early for once.

I'd made a habit (Or, so Kitty told me time and time again) of being 'fashionably late' every time she asked me to pick her up after something, be it school, extracurricular activities, or anything that even mentioned the words 'drive', 'you', and 'on time'. I always left when she'd said would be best, but something always happened that cost me all of the extra time that I had, and all of the minutes that I couldn't spare as well. This was beginning to turn into one of those times.

_Hopefully she made a talkative friend that's keeping her mind off of leaving for the time being._ With a slight laugh at absolutely nothing, I ventured a try at escaping from his presence; it wasn't that he was that bad, he seemed alright, but I had a place to be and he was prohibiting me from being there. "Well, um, it's been nice meeting you and everything, Sachio, but I've got to go pick up my sister from her school. I'll have to just talk to you tomorrow or something because I'm running late, the institution is a ways away, and I don't even remember where I parked my car—"

"Yours was the older one, right? The one that looked like it was about to fall apart if someone were to even prod it with a chopstick?" _At least he's honest. Can't help but wonder why he knows which car I came in, though. _I swiveled my head to look straight at him, the sudden intoxicated look on his face saying that he enjoyed that change of pace. Trying my best to ignore that expression and erase it from the recesses of my mind, I gave a short nod of my head in response to his inquiry, to which he gave a 'Oh, are you gonna be pissed' kind of sound. "Well, um, during P.E. this morning, my whole class heard a rusty car alarm going off, and when we checked to see where it was coming from, we saw an old junker driving away with some guy in a black hoodie riding in the driver's seat—"

"So, you mean to tell me that someone stole my car?" I gazed at him with a smile on my face, figuring that he was merely joking to try to get on my good side, since he most likely knew that that status would help him out the next time he tried to ask me out. But after seeing the sympathy and slight fear of how I would react to the news in his shiny eyes, I realized he was speaking the truth, and this was no joke. "Are you freaking kidding me?! Who on this green Earth would want to waste time by stealing that piece of crap?! My bandages are worth more than that thing was!" I pulled at my hair and let out an aggravated groan as I wondered what Kitty would say when I had to tell her what happened to our suckish car. Who knows, maybe she'd be happy. At least I wouldn't be driving her mad with my mad driving skills.

"You know," Sachio made a move to put his arm around my shoulder, but then re-thought the whole Criminal-Mark-thing again and chose not to. But he kept that wicked creepy grin on his face, a smile that only a perverted idea could come packaged with. "I have a car, a pretty fly one at that—" _Fly? Dude, get a dictionary for crying out loud. So I can hit you with it._ "—I could take you to pick up your sis, and after we drop her back off at your place, maybe we could—"

_Huh, I can see where this is going._ I held up a hand, signaling for him to stop before I used said limb to smack and/or punch him. My mouth was a agape for a little while before I thought of the right words to say now. Or, in this case, _word_. "No. Just…no," Letting out an aggravated sigh—it was too quiet for him to hear; I was still trying to escape from him without damaging his self-esteem, even though currently that seemed impossible anyways—I repeated my previous statement with a bit more force, "I have to go pick up my sister—I can't be late—and we're going to a neighbor's tonight so I'm busy. I'll see you tomorrow." With that final note being belted out of my vocal cords, I cast him a slight wave as I passed him, crossing the street to get further away and lessen the thought of following me in his brain.

Despite how much I'd sounded like I was about ready to unsheathe my trustworthy Algebra book and smack him one upside the head, he seemed pretty darn chipper. "Oh, okay! See ya, Rei!" Thankfully, the street idea had been a good one, and he turned around and began concerning himself with something on his phone while he walked in the direction of the school. _Well, he was persistent. Thank heavens he wasn't _that_ kind of persistent, though. _

I let out a heavy, contented sigh at the hustle and bustle going on around me. All of the people in my surroundings were arguing about business work (I could hear them through the windows and doors that were constantly being entered and exited through), some jumping out of their cars to shout at someone near them either in another car or on the sidewalk. A few people were being towed away by policemen, though I never had seen Trudge around the streets. It seemed to me that he was more active around the Facility than everywhere else. I'd only ever seen him there, or around Satellite.

It always pained me to think about Satellite, and everyone that was there. If they were even alive—anything could've happened while I was gone, something could've gone wrong and one of my childhood buddies might've been harmed. I'd tried to get out once with my best friend, but Trudge and one of his cronies had gotten wind of us. I was able to get my buddy to get out of there, but I didn't have the chance. The only reason I wasn't wandering around the Facility right about now was because after I'd gotten my first Criminal Mark, I'd been able to outsmart the guards and had gotten as far away from them as I could. Everything up until that day was pretty much a blur—except for the people I'd had to leave behind. They were still vivid in my mind's eye.

Yusei Fudo, my best friend—I didn't care that he was a guy, I'd never meet another person that would be the kind of pal that Yusei had been—except for when he'd 'accidentally' dyed my hair. That blue-eyed kid was the reason my bangs were practically neon blue (To summarize, we were both bored—so, it was _kinda_ my fault for letting him know that I wanted something to do—so he decided he was going to make a concoction of different things and dye my hair)! Thankfully, he ran out before he was done. But when I tried to wash it out, it didn't even fade in the slightest.

Let's just say Yusei didn't regret doing it, but he rued what it brought.

Even though at times we could easily find reasons to eliminate one another, there were so much more evidence that we were made to amuse the other. The hair thing was only one example. He, actually, was the one to teach me how to duel—after a while he learned that he taught me a bit too well, 'cause he kept losing to me. I, in turn, told him everything and anything I knew about planning, strategizing, taking cautions but throwing them to the wind if nothing was there that would either help you or just plain didn't make sense—but to always keep them at the back of your mind in case something came up that would force those theories into the rest of the puzzle. Eventually, that helped him kick my butt a couple dozen times when we dueled.

When I had finally decided to try and escape Satellite, I hadn't planned on bringing anyone with me at all. But Yusei had awoken when I set out, and had followed me; it had been too late to send him back by the time I noticed him. That had been my first mistake. I could've gone back with him, convinced him that I wouldn't try again, and then gotten the heck out of there as fast as I could as soon as he was certain my words were true. But when I thought about that today, I knew in my heart that I wouldn't have been able to do that no matter how badly I wanted to show Trudge up, prove that his defenses weren't all that they were cracked up to be.

_I'll go back for someone else soon, Yusei. Kitty won't be the only one who got out of that place. I can promise you that. _My heart yearned to see my friends again, to catch up with all of them again. It would be incredible to see how much they'd grown up—or how little. I'd never even attempted to picture them being anything more than what they'd been while I knew them. I was always focused on the present because the past would tear me into pieces and the future was a mind-boggling mystery.

But as I rounded the last corner that stood between Kitty's school and me, I was pretty sure what the future would hold: A nineteen-year-old girl being half murdered by her fourteen-year-old sibling because she was at least twenty minutes late to pick her up. What a headline _that_ would make. I'd see the gold flash of her blonde hair before she mauled me like a lion, but all that would fill my vision afterwards would be red and black. Blue, too, if I was lucky.

However, I had to have stood at the gate for another ten or fifteen minutes before she finally came out of the building (the whole mauling thing had come from the death glare that she'd given me through the window), and she wasn't alone. She was accompanied by two kids that were clearly twins about her age or maybe a little older, both of them having light teal-ish shaded hair. I could tell by the colors of their clothes and the styles of their hair—and by their two different builds overall—that one was a guy and the other a girl.

And yes. I did have to point this kind of stuff out to myself. Sad, yes. Necessary, yes.

I fidgeted and twitched with nervousness for a moment or two when I noticed that they were headed my way, and Kitty hadn't made any move to excuse them, nor did they seem very intent on leaving. My little sister had made it quite clear that she intended for me to meet her new little friends. The dagger in her eye told me that it would be a very bad idea to pretend I was at the wrong place and high-tail it out of there. _Whatever would give her that idea? Oh, that's right! She knows me too well._

"Rei," Kitty addressed me with a wave of her hand, that same movement leading back to the two by her side. She first named off the female of the twins. "This is Luna. She sits next to me in a bunch of my classes," Luna was hushed for the most part, but I figured that it was only because she was waiting for her brother to be introduced before she made any comments further than a 'hi' and a nod of her head.

"And this here is Leo, her brother. He's in my homeroom, and a few other classes," She glanced at the twins a gestured with both hands towards me as if she had just lifted a huge curtain that had been hiding the greatest freaking thing since Tasers. Leo and Luna acted like it, too. Their eyes got big and round, their mouths hanging open ever so slightly. I wondered inwardly what Kitty had told them. "Guys, this is my sister, Rei." _Put enough drama into it to keep yourself happy for the rest of the month, Kit?_

Before anyone had a chance to get anything else in, Leo shot out a question that seemed to have been plaguing him like a tick or flea for quite some time now, "Is it really true that you've gotten in and out of Satellite seven times, and that you're plotting an eighth as we speak?" I was lucky that my happy-to-meet-you outer appearance hadn't faded instantly like my inward feeling had. A wildfire of rage towards Kitty's big mouth burned inside me; she knew she wasn't supposed to tell anyone what I'd done. She'd even exaggerated how many times I'd broken in and out; I'd only successfully done it twice. I barely even got out of the third one without shackles around my wrists and ankles.

Luna must've noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere around us at the mention of Satellite, and how I'd reacted to his question. She quickly intercepted with a silence-shattering giggle that calmed me; I could tell by the sound that she had a way to get me out of this situation: If I lied and said I hadn't done that, then they would think Kitty was a liar and I'd ruin a chance for her to make a couple of good friends, but if I admitted to it, something might slip out of one of them and I'd wind up in the Facility. "It's hard to believe that the two of you are siblings. You look so different!" Her statement seemed to deter the other two from prosecuting an answer out of me for the other inquiry, both of them seeing the truth in her words.

Kitty smiled at her friend's way of getting past Leo's question, and looked to me for a reaction. I'd thought many times about how Kitty looked more like our mother than our father; Dad had always said with a smile how she even acted like Mom a lot, always wanting to force the people she loved to be more careful about what they did and how they did it, and to be cautious about things. I used to try to act that way when I was around her to make her happy and stir up a bit less worry in her big heart, but nowadays I'd shoot her a smile and say, 'Don't fret, Kit. I'll look both ways before crossing an empty street if that'll make you feel better'.

She'd gotten her wavy blonde hair from our mother, who'd always been the lady turning heads as she walked down the street, her friendly caramel brown eyes drawing in suitors from all around town. But though she had so many, none of them was she so fond of as our father, who both Kitty and I had gotten our eye color from: a light gray with bold streaks of sea green striking randomly throughout the gray like lightning split a black sky.

I was most like my father, though, with hardly anything besides my gender from my mother. His black hair had been passed down to me; however, I got the blue highlights from a bored Yusei, which I would never let him live down. The hue of my eyes were pretty much the same as Kitty's, maybe a little darker but basically the same. And, what my mother used to say was the only 'bad' thing about me, I had my father's strong-willed heart. Nothing was ever impossible in his eyes, and whatever he believed in, whatever he wanted done, he could do it. There wasn't anything that could stand in his way. Not even the law.

But I wasn't about to say all of that, so I merely chortled and agreed with a nod of my head, "People say that all the time. One of our neighbors called us the Un-identical Twins a couple of days ago." Luna laughed at my comment, though her brother still seemed fixed on his previous question. But there was no way that I was going to be coughing up any information about that. Especially not in the open like this.

After another few seconds went by without anyone saying anything, I inconspicuously jabbed Kitty in the ribcage. She got the hint and said with a touch of remorse, "Well, I've gotta go you guys. It was awesome meeting you," The both of us turned from them, and I started walking down the sidewalk, casting a wave to them as Kitty called back a quick 'See ya tomorrow!' It made me smile inside to see her so happy, having a pair of new friends the first day of school. It was nice to know that I didn't have to worry about her being alone.

We walked in a comfortable silence for a little while, and for a few moments I thought that Kitty wasn't going to mention the whole thing with the car. That was just another example of how wishing wells were inanimate robbers. "Um, Rei?" My sister glanced at me out of the side of her bright eyes, her whole face showing signs of worry for what my answer would be. "Where…Where's the car?" _Would, 'not here' be too blunt of an answer?_

"…Um…Well, you see…" I trailed off, my hand now wrapped behind the back of my neck as I attempted to hide my anxious composure. There was really no good way to get around the truth, and the only things that came to my mind that I might be able to use were far too stupid for Kitty to buy. However, I couldn't help but try one. "I got out of the car when I got to school, and when I was about to walk away, this beam of light shot down from the sky and the car started to hover up and up and up into the air. When I looked to see what was going on, I saw a shuttle racing away through the clouds with the car being carried by that anti-gravity beam or something. So—"

"How could someone have stolen the car?!—" _…How the heck did you get _that_ from _that? "—Didn't you lock the doors?" Her face was distorted with both rage towards me and worry for our means of transportation. That was a duo that I hadn't seen on her since the last time that I locked the keys inside the vehicle. But now, there was no vehicle to do that to! So, that was a plus—but Kitty would've murdered me right then and there if I'd said that out loud.

As I thought over her suggestion of not having locked the doors, I was sure for a moment or two that I had to have. I wasn't that stupid and forgetful, after all, it was a habit that our parents had taught us. But then I also remembered that I was the last one in the family to remember that I had to do that. "…Oh! That makes sense…" I touched my fingers to my chin as I pondered, feeling completely unconcerned about the situation now that I'd gone through the shock before I'd come to get Kitty. That seemed to piss Kitty off more than anything else.

She tugged at her hair, holding back an irritated scream. Turning to me with daggers in her once carefree, contented eyes, she didn't even need to say a word. I knew that she was just as pissed as ever that I could be so uncaring about what had happened, and that my forgetful persona was getting worse and worse. It was clear that the next thing that we'd lose would either be the key to the apartment, the apartment itself, or my suckish job.

Or each other.

Kitty worried about being taken away from me all the time. She hid it a lot, but I knew for a fact that it was there; how could I not see it when she trembled every time an officer was within sight. Some nights, when she fell asleep on the couch with her head on my shoulder whenever she was watching TV late at night, she would whimper and shudder violently because of her nightmares. I never told her that I knew about her dreams since she would either refuse to admit that it was true, or would be afraid to talk to me again because of that knowledge. I was the closest one to her in her life—the only one she had, really—and it would mean nothing if she feared being around me.

Before Kitty could find a second to yell at me again and make more people stare in our general direction, I punched her playfully in the shoulder, a comforting, still pleased smile resting on my face. "Take it easy, Kit. It's not the end of the world. Heck, you always said how much you hated that car anyways! And you know, we live close enough to your school that I could just walk you there, or we could take a bus. There are plenty of ways for us to get around town without that prehistoric junk heap. So, quit ripping your skull apart and just enjoy the semi-polluted air!" I sucked in a deep breath to emphasize my point, and I was glad that we'd walked by a bakery when I'd done that. _I should go there tomorrow or something. I have ten bucks to spare, and Kitty can't say I'm wasting money if I use it to get some food for the both of us. _

With a sigh of exasperation—_I won!—_Kitty relented from the conversation and turned to silence for a little while. But I'd known from the first few seconds that that wouldn't last for very long, and the next thing I knew she was talking up a tornado. "You know, the weirdest thing about today wasn't that Luna was sitting behind me and the only reason I started talking to her was because someone flung a checker piece across the room and it hit both me and her in the head, but it was the way that I met Leo and actually started hanging with him and everything. Here, lemme tell you how it went—"_ I dug myself a grave, and I don't even know how anymore. At least my awesome driving would've kept me safe from _this _for a little while longer. _

"Okay, so, I was just sitting in class, minding my own business and everything when this jerk comes up to me and starts bothering me about how I was a lot different from all the other blondes he knew since I was actually doing my work independently. I kept trying to get him to leave me alone and do his own work, but whenever I'd say anything he'd just ignore me and keep talking. I was already pretty fed up with the guy when he asked if I wanted to hang with him on Saturday since he didn't have anything to do and would be bored, but then Leo—he was sitting two seats behind me and to the right—told the dude off and he left me alone for the rest of the class.

"After we got out of that class, I caught up with Leo in the hallway and thanked him for giving me a hand, and we started talking a lot, so I mentioned you and somehow Satellite and dueling and all that fell out of my mouth, and Leo told me he knew the King of Duelists: Yusei Fudo!" I stopped abruptly and stared with disbelief at my younger sister, wondering if the light color of her hair was starting to affect how her mind worked to decipher whatever her ears heard. But she looked pretty confident that she correct.

"C'mon, Rei!" Kitty grabbed my arm and dragged me back into motion despite my trance. It seemed normal to Kitty that the mention of him took such a toll on me, and maybe that was because she knew how important Yusei had been in my life, having given me the courage to attempt to get out of Satellite in the first place. From the look on my face, she could tell that I couldn't believe something that she'd said, even if she got the actual meaning behind the look wrong.

"…Look," She started in a quieter tone, her grip on my arm becoming a bit softer, though she continued to drag me forward. "I'm sorry that I brought up Satellite again—I know you don't like it when I talk about it and I know that I'm not supposed to talk about it in public, but it just slipped out! It was just that I was talking with Leo and he'd been really nice and—"

"Kitty!" I called her name rather loudly over her incessant babbling, and she looked back at me with dark eyes, eyes that expected me to be angry or disappointed. But the small smile on my face told her of my forgiveness for her sometimes-a-little-bit-too-big mouth. "It's okay. I was just…surprised, I guess…" _Surprised that one of my childhood friends is out of Satellite and is making some pretty big history._

My little sister had talked enough to satisfy her vocal cords for the rest of the year by the time we got back to our apartment. And my ears were about ready to start talking themselves Kitty had given them so much time to practice. I got my two cents in every now and then, but our conversations were almost always carried along by Kitty, and I really didn't mind that. I enjoyed all the time that we'd ever gotten to spend together, and I treasured it like it would be the last time I'd ever see her again.

It was like a precaution for the worst.

Most of the topics revolved around Leo, and that was the first word out of her mouth as we entered the door, immediately catching Haruka's attention. From the first day that I'd known her she'd made it clear in whatever she did that she was one of those girls who was so obsessed with boys that she had ever guy's face that she'd ever been with memorized without a flaw. She could get a bit creepy every now and then, but I was a little happy that she wasn't crazy for that Bieber dude.

"Who's this Leo fellow, hm, Kitty?" Haruka leaned forward over the desk, her brown hair coming untucked from her ear and fell in front of her face, a few of the strands getting caught in her eyebrow piercing. With a look of discomfort and aggravating for this having happened again today, she stared intently at the hairs as she tugged them free, grimacing as a bunch got stuck and she had to rip them out to free herself. After she recovered from that, she returned her attention to a very happy Kitty. "Is he cute, Blondie?"

She hesitated, her face suddenly becoming very red and her always-devilish smile faltering for a second, but then Kitty nodded her head, her grin returning. "He's a fruitcake!" I smiled a little at her outburst, and Haruka laughed a bit, her piercing jumping up and down as she chuckled. It was hard not to stare at it, but it even entertained her sometimes so she really didn't care.

I backed away from the two boy-crazy humans, heading towards the stairs and clothes that weren't so uncomfortable to wear. "I think I'll leave now. Kitty, you know how to get up stairs and everything, so….yeah." Seeing that they weren't paying any attention anyways, I raced up the stairs, taking that answer as an, 'What did you say, Rei?' Thankfully Mr. Kobayashi wasn't on the steps to pass by me; the last time that had happened had been really awkward and I hadn't seen Mrs. Kobayashi come out of their apartment without slamming her door for the next few weeks.

Upon entering our apartment, I chucked my bag as far from me as I could, hearing the Math book clunk onto the floor with a monotone thud. It was one of the subjects that I was the worst at, but I couldn't help but find myself entranced by it for some reason. My interest in the world and how everything could be made to work in such synchronization was probably a key factor in that, since Math and all of its parts were huge contributors to a concept such as that.

I gave it one last glance, wondering to myself if I should do that assignment now or put it off until later tonight. The procrastinator inside of me won out over the one that willing to work, and I made my way into the kitchen to find something for supper, the walk back having taken much longer than I'd originally thought that it would. There was almost nothing ever in the house, even though I'd gone grocery shopping just the other day. It was like something snuck into our house at night and ate most of the stuff in our cabinets and refrigerator.

But I couldn't keep my mind on finding food for very long, and soon it wandered back to what Kitty had said about Yusei being the King of Duelists. If Leo had been telling the truth and she'd heard him right, then that meant that Yusei wasn't still in Satellite after all, and he might even be somewhere in New Domino City right this very minute. It was a thought that plagued me, and I wondered if I'd ever passed him one day when I'd been out walking around the town and just hadn't realized that it was him. I ran my hands over my face at the thought, hoping that I hadn't done something so stupid and oblivious. Kitty always told me that I was known around the whole building for such traits.

Yusei'd never seen me with my Criminal Marks before, and that could've been why he didn't realize it was me if we really had walked right past one another and hadn't known it. You'd think I would've recognized him even after being apart for so long—I mean, how hard was it to forget what that hair looked like? And how could he forget what he did to _my_ hair? It's not like many people walk around New Domino City with neon blue bangs.

All of these theories and questions were starting to give me a headache, and I sat down at the kitchen table, resting my elbows up on the table and massaging my temples with the tips of my fingers. One of the only good parts about this was that he was out of Satellite. But now the only question left was where he was now. Not to mention what had happened to everyone else that we had hung around back then—Crow, Jack, everybody. With those thoughts reverberating constantly in my head now, I knew that I had to get someone else's opinion on this.

Pulling my deck from the pocket on my belt, I pulled a random card out of it: Quickdraw Synchron. Why was he always the one that I picked? Did he shove all the others out of the way so that he'd be in the spotlight all the time? I could see him doing that, and I wasn't all too sure why. Or why I was acting as if this card was an actual being that could do such things. It wasn't alive, it wasn't even nonliving in the way that a virus was. It was just…there.

Despite that fact though, this was one of my most favored cards. It was the very card that Yusei had given me that last time that I'd seen him, and it had gotten me out of so many jams before I'd lost count. If anything could give me a bit of wisdom now, something that still had a touch of Yusei in it might do the trick. Even if it was only a card.

"Do you know where Yusei is? Or any of them, just tell me where any of them are. Even a 'left' or 'right' answer would be fine. Just…where the heck are they right now?" I held the card up to my forehead, feeling a bit relieved that Kitty wasn't here to see me putting so much of my soul into talking to an inanimate object. When I brought the card away from me to look down at the picture, it seemed to shrug at me, giving no other response at all. Had I been expecting something a bit more informative? "Yeah. Why would you know? You're almost always in my pocket, so how much of the world do you even get to see?" Quickdraw Synchron seemed to shrug again, and I put it back into the deck.

As I returned the deck to its pouch, I got up and went back to finding something edible, trying harder than ever to keep all of my friends out of my head. If they kept on coming back to me, I'd never be able to focus for the rest of the night, maybe even the rest of the week. Past experiences had taught me that pondering the past was just another way to keep yourself up late at night with unanswerable inquiries. I knew that Yusei wouldn't want me to send myself into depression because of my crew. But how could I not think about them all day long, when I used to spend all night and all day with those very people?

My first—and best—friends…

_I'm going to find you guys. And that's a promise._

* * *

**_Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it! :)_**

**_If you noticed any mistakes, or something didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the chapter quite the way you thought it should've, it's probably because I wrote the majority of this thing a couple of years ago, and just now went over it to edit a bit and make a few changes. So...I might've missed some things *sheepishly grins* _**

**_But, anyways, thank you so very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it-I know I loved writing it-and feel free to review and let me know what you thought. And, if you're into GX stuff as well, you should check out my one-shot and see what you think of that, too. If you do, please let me know in the reviews or PM me about anything that you liked, disliked, or any characters that you think I should have in the multi-chapter story (since I really don't have a solid plan yet, I can do just about anything if you ask nicely :D). _**

**_Thanks again for reading!_**


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